


Please, Let's Not Even Say Hello

by Flutteringby



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Light Angst, Mild Angst, Past Relationship(s), Song Lyrics, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 20:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20766140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flutteringby/pseuds/Flutteringby
Summary: Diana Barry, soon to be Diana Wright, has finally returned from finishing school. As she and her new fiance walk through Charlottetown, she encounters a person who brings memories of and longing for who she was three years before.





	Please, Let's Not Even Say Hello

_We meet by purest chance_

_Accident, unintended_

_No time to let our feelings show_

The bustle of the Charlottetown streets was a welcome familiarity for Diana Barry, soon to be Diana Wright. The din of customers shouting and chatting, children laughing, and even the occasional motor car washed her clean of the weeks-long voyage from Paris. At her side, sturdy and sensible, walked her fiancé. She held to his arm as they traversed the well-worn cobblestones. Diana’s mother had declared him, “The Perfect Gentleman,” “Just the type of man we had hoped you’d marry” and she had to agree. She stopped and faced the window to her right, adjusting her hat. The picture in the window was precise, perfect: Diana in a blue traveling dress, fashionable and elegant, attended on her left by the handsome gentleman her parents adored.

The distressed squealing of a horse pulled Diana’s attention behind her. The beast reared up, spooked by something that had had the sense to flee. As Diana turned toward the commotion, the horse’s owner went around to calm the animal.

_Two people once attached_

_Still not matched, still not mended_

_Please let's not even say hello_

“Shhh, Belle, t’êtes bien, t’êtes bien,” Jerry Baynard, even taller than when Diana had seen him last, held Belle’s reigns in one hand and caressed her forehead with the other.

He looked up briefly before his eyes locked to Diana’s, surprise playing on his features.

Warmth crept up Diana’s neck, she prayed it wouldn’t spread further. Jerry’s face had stayed mostly the same, warm eyes framed by shaggy, dark hair. His clothes, though shabby and patched, fit well showing off how he’d filled out from his continued work for the Cuthberts.

The memory of their last meeting made its way to the front of her mind.

_Please let's not stop and talk awhile_

_You never know, we might continue talking_

Diana was once again seventeen. Her lungs burned a little as they took in the cool, early May air. She ran the familiar path to Green Gables, dark curls flowing loosely behind her—a style she’d been forced to abandon upon arrival at school. Diana slowed to a trot as she rounded up on the shadowed side of the barn, hidden from the house.

Jerry worked at his task, pitching clean hay in and old out as Diana bounded toward him; the two were alone in the barn. Jerry had barely a moment to drop the pitchfork as she slammed against him, pinning him to the wall of the barn and kissed him—kissed him like at any moment they would both disappear. Tangling his fingers into her hair, he kissed back with equal intensity. When she at last pulled back, Diana felt the sting of tears begin.

“I—I couldn’t go without letting you know that—that I feel the same as you…” she said, her normally impeccable French stilted by emotion.

“But your parents—” Jerry began.

“I know. They would never approve” Diana wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest.

They stood, silently clinging to each other.

_But surely you're still you_

_I'm still me, that's for certain_

_I'm still no good at letting go_

“Diana?” Fred pulled her from her recollections, “Are you alright?”

Jerry smiled sadly at Diana and tipped his hat before turning to begin on his way.

_So, please let's not even say hello_

“I’m fine, dear.” The sting of tears returned as she took his arm again. “We should get going. Mother and Father will be expecting us by dinnertime.”

_Please let's not even say hello._

**Author's Note:**

> How's this for a throwback? Song-fics were HUGE when I was coming up. Here's my take on it. The song is "Please Let's Not Even Say Hello" from a song cycle called "December Songs" written by Maury Yeston. Laura Osnes does a lovely rendition if you care to listen. I may write more one-shots based on other songs from the cycle, but that remains to be seen.


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